Theorycraft is the scientific analysis of games to discover the best strategies and tactics to win. It uses tools such as statistics and case studies. The term was coined by the StarCraft players community as a portmaneau of "StarCraft" and "game theory", which studies reactions of players in response to game rules.
In video games, theorycraft breaks the barrier between game players and developers, since players try to discover the mechanics that usually are accessible only to developers.
Damage per second (shortened DPS) is unit of measure of damage to a character in relation to time. DPS is one of the primary focuses of theorycrafters. Individuals will factor in all of the following but not limited to: Base damage, cooldown time, global cooldown time, cast time, "procs" or triggers of other effects when the primary skill is used, skill chaining, appropriation of "buffs", frequency and placement of temporary abilities, party makeup, "agro" gain, frontloaded cast timers, character downtime (from death or otherwise, character stat values, equipment selection.